Cuphead - Before the Devil
by sweetsilverdusk
Summary: King Dice recalls his past and how he made a deal with the Devil.


Based on the Fanart here: pin/601793568930172803/ , . , post/167592282523/ok-ok-ok我拜託了噗浪的朋友幫忙找翻擇了啦oeo  
***Please help me find the artists for the first two so I can direct anyone to them properly***

Kudos & Comments welcomed!

 _The Devil's Casino was in a wreak. Employees and the main floor had been ripped apart by two cups who had lost a bet with the owner and were determined to win back their souls._

 _One of the employees was the powerful King Dice himself. His usually pristine plum suit was tattered, with tears along his sleeves, waistcoat, and large purple bowtie. He dusted himself off with his torn gloves, sneering slightly, "Urgh… If I ever see those cup brothers again, I'll eliminate them from existence..."_

 _He sighed, rubbing his cracked die head. He knew he looked like hell. He could feel a black eye forming over his left eye, bruises on his arms, legs, and chest, and had blood dribbling from his mouth from where a few teeth were knocked out._

 _Dice grimaced. He hadn't felt like this since the day he lost his soul…_

"Dice! Dice! Ya come home this instant!"

Dice peeked out from behind a tree as a figure passed by, calling for the young boy. Mama Ace wasn't bad, but Dice often wished that she wouldn't be such a pain to him. Ever since Grandma Chip died three years ago, both of his parents, Mama Ace and Father Spade, had gotten more involved in Dice's life than the boy thought was necessary.

Although he was close with both of his grandparents, his parents often warned him about Grandpa Chip's gambling habit. Some of the debt he had accumulated passed onto Grandma Chip after his passing nearly three years prior to her death.

After her untimely death, the debt had been passed onto his parents, and both were determined to work it off. Father Spade constantly told Dice that the only way to get money was to earn it respectively, while Mama Ace told him to never ever go to the Casino on the far side of the Island. Both parents told their son stories about the owner who was cruel and would steal people's souls in exchange for a favor.

But, unknown to his family, Dice was already making the best of money, as well as saving it up in order to help them with the overwhelming debt that was literally hanging over their heads. When Grandpa Chip was alive, he took the liberty to teach Dice all the tricks of the gambling trade. He knew how to be crafty with cards, cunning with craps, proud with poker, as well as arrogant with his betting. He had already beaten the best of the best with blackjack, pirouette, craps, and dominos.

But, what he learned the most of was how to spot a cheater and how to cheat the cheater.

As soon as Mama Ace was out of sight, Dice took his chance and headed to the far side of the Island, where the Devil's Casino was.

The building was enormous, larger than any of the mansions on the island. It was rumored that the Casino was once a castle, belonging to the King Sugar Plum before he died, passing his royalty onto his youngest niece, Baroness Von Bon Bon, who was too young to run the castle and had her family move to another side of the Island. That's when the Devil came and renovated the entire castle, turning it into his own hiding place and business.

Dice had made an appearance here and there on occasion, gambling small amounts. However, today he felt extremely lucky and was going to attempt to double or triple his winnings.

As he came to the first table, it was here that some of the patrons and the employees began to keep an eye on him. A cigar with a burning head watched as a coworker, Chips Bettigan, began the betting stakes with the young die. He turned to the domino that sat beside him, "Pip, Dot, wanna let the boss-man know he's back?"

"Will do, Mr. Wheezy!" the two chimed before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Everyone watched as Dice grew luckier and luckier. From what was known and passed from employee to employee, Dice had almost tripled his winnings. Some of them were starting to get anxious, including Mr. Wheezy. Never before had they seen someone talented at gambling since Arthur Chip, but that was before his luck ran out.

Dice leaned back as he won another round of craps when a shadow loomed over the boy. He turned and looked up to see a large creature with black fur and thick horns on his head. He stood nearly two heads taller than Dice with his hands behind his back and a sickening toothy grin on his face. His eyes glowed an eerie red when Dice gulped in fear slightly.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the Devil asked smirking at Dice, "A lucky lad, eh?"

"Y-yes s-sir," Dice stuttered. He reminded himself to keep his manners, remembering the warning Mama Ace told him about the Devil.

"Why don't we make things a bit more interesting?" the Devil offered.

"N-no thank you sir. I think I'm good."

"Come on, Kid," the Devil wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders, holding out a pair of dice, "One more roll. If ya win, I'll triple everything ya have in yer pockets right now."

"And if I lose?"

"Hmm… how about yer soul?"

Dice knew, without a doubt, that this man would've asked for his soul. He moved swiftly away from the Devil answering fiercely, "No. I'm not interested." He turned and made his way out the casino.

The Devil watched the boy go. He could clearly see why his employees were concerned about this one. He grinned and headed back into his office.

Dice let out a breath in the lobby. He was lucky he had pocketed his chips before the Devil showed up. Honestly, the man scared the living shit out of him and if he came face to face with him again, it would be too soon.

He decided that tonight would be the last night to gamble, considering he had most if not all the money his grandfather owed. He traded his chips for the cash and prepared to head back home.

However, unknown to Dice, there were muggers waiting outside the casino. They had seen and heard of a boy with dice head that was making it big in the Devil's Casino and they wanted that money, badly. As Dice came out the doors, hands in his pockets stuffed with the money, all three of the muggers pounced on the unsuspecting victim.

Dice cried out, trying to protect himself as each mugger took a hit from the Dice and in turn knocked the boy nearly it unconsciousness. Once they took the money and left, Dice felt absolutely empty. How was he going to explain this to Mama Ace and Father Spade? How was he going to pay off the debt? He closed his eyes as tears flowed from his eyes.

"Are ya just going ta lay there cryin' or are ya gonna do somethin' about it?"

Dice looked up to see Pirouletta standing before him as well as a few other employees of the Casino, including Phear Lab, Mangosteen, and Mr. Wheezy. Pip and Dot pulled the boy up from the ground. He rubbed his arms before answering, "There's no way I can earn all that money back! It took me months and months to get all that saved!"

"well, there is two options," Dot smiled, "You can start all over from where you started, or… you can make a deal with the Devil."

Dice found himself standing before the Devil not too long later. The man was sitting on his throne as Dice explained his situation and what had happened. Once Dice finished, the Devil smirked, "So… yer the grandson of old Arthur Chip."

When Dice nodded, the Devil stood and approached him. Wrapping around the boy's shoulders again, a pen and a parchement appeared before the two of them.

"I'll make it simple, fer ya," the Devil smiled, "I'll excuse the debt by yer family and I'll let ya get yer revenge on them muggers that stole from ya. Fer that, you'll become my personal slave and yer soul will belong ta me fer the rest of yer miserable stinking life."

Battered and bruised, Dice agreed and signed his name on the line.

He wrote a letter to his parents the following day with a signed agreement by the Devil to let them know that they were free from the debt.

 _Dice grumbled and sighed, bring himself back to the present._

 _Yes, life as the manager of the Devil's Casino may have been difficult, but for the price he paid, he'd do it again._

 _"KING DICE!"_

 _The devil's voice echoed through the remains of main floor. Dice stood and ran toward to doors to where his boss was. Perhaps he had beaten the cup brothers?_


End file.
